brock



(HoModeLf W. E. BROGK.

Can Opener. No. 234,527. Patented Nov. 16, I880.

llNrTnn STATES PATENT @Tmcn- WVIIJLIAM E. BROOK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS H. STOUT, OF NEW BRUNSIVIGK, N. J.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 234,527, dated November 16, 1880.

Application filed September 16, 1890. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. BROGK, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsin Gan-Openers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to those can-openers which consist of a piece of sheet metal bent into the form of a cylinder and having the edge tapered or inclined rearwardly obliquely upon each side of a penetrating or piercing point.

The invention consists in the combination, with the cylindric cutter having a penetrating or piercing point and tapered or inclined 0bliquely upon both sides thereof and the bandle, of rods or wires extending from the free ends of the cutter to the handle, and a slide fitting upon said rods or wires and adapted to be moved longitudinally thereon to adjust the instrument for a small or a large can.

It also consists in details of construction hereinafter to be explained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of my improved canopener adjusted for a small can. Fig. 2 represents a similar view, the instrument being adjusted for a large can. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal section through the instrument, upon a reduced scale; and Fig. 4 represents a view of rods of slightly-modified form for connecting the free ends of the cutter with the handle.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates the cutter or blade of my canopener, which consists of a piece or blank of sheet-steel, of such shape that when bent into cylindrical form its rearor upper edge will be straight, while its lower or cutting edge will be inclined or slanted obliquely upon each side of a penetrating or piercing point, a.

B designates a rigidly attached handle, which is eccentric to and parallel with the axis of the cylindric cutter, and in line, or nearly in line, with the piercing-point a. In the present instance the handle is slotted so as to receive the edge of the cutter, which is secured therein by rivets b, and consequently the handle is, as here shown, directly in line with the penetrating or piercing point a. This feature is also applicable to can-openers of this kind, in which the cutter is secured to a stock, the handle, in such case, extending from the stock nearly in line with the penetrating or piercing point. This arrangement of thehandle is very advantageous, inasmuch as the power is applied directly or nearly in line with the penetrating or piercing point, where there is the greatest resistance. The handle B being attached to the blade A, at one point only, provision is afforded for the springing of the blade upon each side of the handle to provide for contracting or expanding the blade, and it will be observed that in opening a can the pressure is applied axially upon the handle.

0 designates rods or wires secured to the free ends of the cutter or blade by rivets c, and having eyes at their other ends, which are fastened to a staple or staples d in the handle B. When released the constant tendency of the rods or wires 0 is to spread apart, owing to the elasticity of the cutter or blade, and I employ a slide, D, which may be adjusted upon the rods or wires 0, to hold them at proper distance apart when adjusted as required. The'rods or wires O preferably have in them kinks ornotchesc, by which they hold the slide D in place when adjusted.

In lieu of the round wires or rods I may employ rods or bars 0, made of sheet metal and corrugated longitudinally, as shown in Fig. 4, to increase their strength.

In order to enable the penetrating or pierc- 8 in g point to be made sharper or more acute without danger of its bending or giving way,

I preferably corrugate the cutter or blade at the said point, as shown at f, thus greatly strengthening the point.

In order to enable the heads of cans after being cut away to be pulled out by the withdrawal of the cutter, I provide the cutter or blade with a hook or projection, g, tapering on the face, and forming an abrupt'shoulder 5 V at the top, which passes below the head E of the can, as shown in Fig. 3, and catches upon the edge of the head and pulls it outward when the instrument is withdrawn. The. book or projection 9 may be conveniently made by partly cutting a piece out from the cutter or blade and bending it inward.

By my invention I produce a can-opener which may be Very readily adjusted to suit cans of difi'erent sizes, and which, owing to the novel features described, is very desirable.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a canopener, ot' a piece of sheet metal bent to form a cylindric cutter or blade and having its edge tapered or inclined obliquely upon each side of a penetrating or piercing point, a handle, rods or wires extendingfroin the free ends of the cutpose specified.

W. E. BROOK. \Vitnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, 101312 ARCHIBALD. 

